INTERACTING WITH GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION - A COMMENTARY

The GIS community is beginning to focus attention on the study of human-computer interaction, in an attempt to increase system usability and user productivity. However, it may be that the explicit focus on the interaction between a user and a device is misguided. Instead of interacting with a computer peripheral or its user interface, GIS users should instead be able to interact more directly with geographic information and geographic problems. A focus on human-problem or human-phenomenon interaction will better enable the design and implementation of optimal user interfaces for GIS and related software. This approach is supported by researchers from both the engineering and artistic perspectives on human-computer interaction.